Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (UADY)

All foreign students at the UADY have to take a Spanish course before they start regular classes. I already spoke Spanish pretty fluently, and I was put in a class with other students of my level of Spanish, but we wound up doing basic grammar excercises for 6 weeks and learning nothing new. The University is for some reason, not equipped or prepared for students who already have an advanced level of Spanish. It was only 2 hours a day though, and I made a lot of foreign friends, so it wasnt a total waste of time! The regular courses were all in Spanish, which is what I was looking for.

The UADY doesnt use text books, rather students make copies of readings they are supposed to read and buy them little by little as needed. There are no second-hand furniture stores that I ever saw, but there is always a foreign student moving or going home who is giving away their things- i wound up with a whole kitchen set that way! There are also lots of cheap furniture stores. There are internet cafes everywhere, ATMs are common (in the cities!!!), Banks close at 4pm, and lots of businesses close from 2-4pm every day. Private hospitals are about 20 USD a visit, and though they look dark and scary, the UADY is a very good medical school, so the doctors ARE well-trained!

Bring extra cash to travel the most you can; its ok to miss class if you are foreign (the professors generally go VERY easy on you!), and take advantage of Merida's location to visit Chiapas, the Mayan Riviera, the Caribbean, Central America, etc...

The housing department at the UADY was great, when I told them i wanted to move to another host family, and later to another apartment, they asked no questions at all and gave me no trouble. I had a new host family the next day. The second time I moved they also had no problem. They are very helpful and open.

The discos are always fun- Tequila, Amarantus, Mambo Cafe... The Zocalo is also fun when you first arrive. Merida is growing very very quickly, and new restaurants are cropping up every month. One thing we did do a lot of was sneak into the Hyatt Hotel swimming pool for free. The hotel never said anything. The UADY Faculties always arrange lots of parties throughout the year, most are keg parties, but they can be fun.